Your testimony is based on the fact that your agency believes this work can be done elsewhere or it doesn't need to be done at all. So I'm asking about what premise or experience ACOA has to make that particular judgment. I'll argue the same, that a few years ago somebody at the Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation, which is an offshoot of ACOA, searched out a private golf developer in Cape Breton and gave them a million dollars. Now, I don't know why ACOA would be looking for private golf developers to give them a million dollars, but I question the agency's role in what they pick and choose.
This is the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. You have four premiers. You have Minister Shea, who is from the province of Prince Edward Island. We heard expert testimony from industry and individuals representing thousands of fishing harvesters that the CCFI is something that should be clearly supported by government. You have the Department of Fisheries onside. You have four premiers, plus everybody else. The funding went from $2 million down to $1 million.
What is the real reason that this agency would be cut off from its funding? And Mr. Bonnell indicated to us that they were never directly told the funding would be terminated. Is that true?